need ideas for shady area that gets full blast of sun from 5-6 pm

newSeptember 11, 2010

I have long area along my backyard fence that seems to get mostly shade, whether full, or dappled, then a full blast of hot sun from 5-6 pm. I planted hostas there in maybe april or may, and seemed to be fine untill the really hot days started to bun their edges ( i see one or 2 with new growth). I will probably move these to a place where they get some morning sun and not much more during the day. Anyway, i need some decent plants for that tough spot, nice shrubs, or flowers, i just don't know what will work there, any thoughts? everywhere i put my sun calc it reads part shade. i sort of wish i wither had mmore full sun, or full shade, part sun shade seems tricky! i am in houston.

I have the same problem in the front and back yards, as my street curves two houses up from me. That lets the sun blast late in the day, where normally the houses would block the sun. I have yet to figure out what to plant in some areas. I planted crape myrtles a few feet out from the fence. Some do not bloom well, but at least they are green.

I have a similar problem on the side of my house. Total shade until late in the day, then blasting sun until my neighbors house and tree shades it again. Nandina would work, but they work for almost everything. I am experimenting with some dwarf wax myrtle - they get just a slight margin burn in August if I forget to water. I have 1 miniature crape myrtle (gets about 3 feet and I severely prune back in winter) and surprisingly it blooms quite well with just that small amount of sun. It is Bayou Marie - pink blooms, but there are other colors too I think in the Dixie Series. Caution tho, Dixie gets alot taller than advertised, which might be OK for your area. My sister in law has turks cap in the same setting, and hers does great - gets lots of water tho where she has them.

i just got into the gardening BUG this past spring, so i don't know what i wanted for this spot, but now that i am really getting into it, i see the problems people run into. I am thinking a shrub border, but i hate boring, i need color. I have a few nadnina's to the right. have you tried virgina sweet spire in tx?, i was thinking fro here too. OR maybe some beautyberry? i would love to plant flowers but i don't think there is enough sun for flowering, or enough shade for shade plants. thnks forthe ideas, i would love some more!

Welcome to the world of gardening! You've gotten some good ideas. Here are a few other things to consider.

For color Katie ruella is a good little border plant. It's a dwarf and comes in purple, pink and white and will bloom in just about any conditions. Mexican Oregano blooms almost year round in those same conditions for me. Texas Betony is good. I see you already have Mealy blue sage that seems to be liking it there. There are other sages to consider. Also ornamental grasses such as the purple fountain grass you already have. Some grasses grow nicely under trees such as inland sea oats for me

For something with a little height consider some of the Texas native understory trees. I think Possomhaw holly does very well in the Houston area. It has bright red berries in fall and winter. Mexican red bud stays small for me and blooms heavily in the spring. Anacacho Orchid Tree is a lovely little white blooming understory tree that butterflies love.

You may have to make your bed a little wider to accomadate all the nice things you'll find to grow there. Sorry I don't have any experience with Virginia sweetspire. Beauty berry might be nice in the corner. It gets very large here in San Antonio in full sun, but in part sun would be smaller.

Check out some of the plants on the site linked below plus a local privately owned nursery would be able to make more suggestions. Also visiting a botanical center and seeing whats growing well in similar conditions that you have is very helpful.

I've occasionally seen an interesting fence, but I don't know that I would put ones of Home Depot derivation in that category. My first priority would be to replace the view of the fence with an attractive hedge. Given your spatial constrictions, I would hesitate to extend the edge of the bed. I suspect the only thing that's going to get the job done, without a lot of trimming and training, is nandina. While it is maturing, you might fill in the blanks with some liriope and aspidistra.